THE LORD's PRAYER

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom,

THE LORD's PRAYER................................................2-3 and the power, BIBLE 101: BOOK OF PSALMS................................. community life / 40 DAYS & 40 WAYS............. 4-5 6-7 and the glory, MANDALAS...............................................................8-9 CELEBRATE RECOVERY ..............................................10 forever and ever. MIDWEEK LENTEN WORSHIP / CONTACT US ...........11 ASH WEDNESDAY WORSHIP ......................................12 Amen.

by Lead Pastor Joel Wight Hoogheem (joel@lordoflife.org)

Jesus was asked a lot of questions. As recorded in the gospels, he famously answered very few of them directly. Jesus’ encounter with a lawyer in Luke 10:2537 is a good example. The lawyer asks, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus’ response was to ask a question: “What is written in the law?” After answering Jesus’ question, the lawyer asks another: “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus’ response this time is the parable of the good Samaritan capped with yet another question: “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

Interestingly, shortly after this encounter, Jesus’ disciples make a request of him: “Lord, teach us to pray . . . ” in Luke 11:1. Along with boatloads of questions, Jesus receives countless requests. And Jesus always responds with a resounding “Yes!” when a request is made for healing. Jairus’ daughter in Luke 8:40-56. A demon-possessed boy in Luke 9:37-43. A blind man in Luke 18:35-43. To his disciples’ request to be taught how to pray, Jesus gives a resounding “Yes!” He teaches them what we know now as the Lord’s Prayer. Considering how quick of an affirmative response Jesus offers to this request, perhaps prayer is a form of healing. It is about bringing us into right relationship with God, as made known in Jesus Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit. Since Jesus desires our health and wholeness, he does not leave us empty-handed about how we can pray. Frederick Buechner writes, “ ‘Thy will be done’ is what we are saying. That is the climax of the first half of the prayer. We are asking God to be God. We are asking God to do not what we want but what God wants.” That’s an awesome and terrifying request, indeed, as we release our desires and invite God’s desires to take precedence. The Lord’s Prayer teaches us that prayer is not like putting money into a vending machine and selecting our desired outcome. Since we pray the Lord’s Prayer as a community so frequently, it can easily become aural wallpaper. We can recite the words from memory without pausing to reflect on just what power and potential is contained in these words Jesus taught us. There is comfort in the familiarity of the words, yes. And we are always invited to take a breath and consider what it means to pray, for instance, “Our Father, who art in heaven.”

• What does it mean that God is “our” God?

What might it mean that “I, me, my, and mine” are nowhere to be found in the prayer? • And what does “Father” mean as it relates to

God? Is this about biology or about something bigger? And what does it mean about how God relates to us?

• Where is heaven? What is heaven?

This season of Lent at Lord of Life, we will be taking time each weekend in worship to wrestle with each phrase of this beautiful, challenging, life-shaping, and world-shaking prayer Jesus teaches us. We can trust that learning to pray as Jesus taught is for our own healing, and for the healing of this world Jesus comes to save.